Automotive vehicle



July 24, 1962 c. s. HADLocK 3,045,774

AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE Filed March 6, 1961 SSheets-Sheetfl July 24, 1962 c.s. HADLocK AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6. 1961 July24', 119.62 c.. s.A HAnLocK AuToMoTlvEf VEHICLE;

3 SheetsfSheeft 5,

INVEN TOR. Cama xl /M BMwx/M nited States assignments, to DynaCoManufacturing, Inc., a corporation of Arizona Filed Mar. 6, 1961, Ser.No. 93,542 1 Claim. (El. 180-51) This invention pertainsto an automotivevehicle for rugged terrain.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a selfpropelledvehicle which will travel at a fairly rapid speed over very ruggedground, including rocks and sharp depressions and creeks orotherirregularities `and carry a load of one man or several togetherwith equipment of several hundred pounds.

Another object is to provide a self-propelled vehicle which can bemaneuvered over extremely rough terrain and which will adapt itself tothe terrain either by adjusting 'the axis of the front and rear axles tovarying angles or by moving the front body part with reference to therear 'body part so that the wheels at all'times remain on the ground andin riding position.

Still another object is to provide a vehicle as abovey stated wherein anengine of comparatively small horsepower can be used to propel thevehicle and carry men j and loads over rough terrain at a moderatespeed.

Still another object is to provide a vehicle, as above stated, which canbe easily steered and maneuvered without the use of knuckle joints atthe ends of either the front or rear axle.

Still another object is to provide a vehicle of the type statedwhereinthe propulsion is att-ained by having all four wheels drive and whereinthe driving position is maintained regardless of the roughness of theterrain and the cramped positions in which the wheels may be forced.

I attain the foregoing objects by means of VJthe structure, parts andcombinations of parts .and structure shown in the -accompanyingdrawings, in which- FIGURE l is a plan view of the vehicle;

FIGURE 2 is a side view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a rear elevational View thereof;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the vehicle with the upper parts and floorpartially removed to show the working parts and drawn on a greatlyenlarged scale;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the vehicle as shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional elevational view of the device, as shown inFIGURE 5 the section taken substantially on line 7--7 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is la semi-diagrammatic view showing the relative movements ofthe wheels and axles as made when going over rough terrain;

FIGURE 9 is a plan View showing relative movements of the wheels andaxles illustrating maneuverability;

FIGURE l() is a semi-diagranunatic elevational view showing relativemovement of the wheels and axles used in attaining maneuverability;

FIGURE 11 is la vertical sectional View of a forward drive shaftcoupling; and

FIGURE l2 is a section `taken on line i12-l2 of FIG- URE 1l.

Similar numerals referto similar parts in the several views.

r[The `body of the vehicle, lgenerally indicated by numeral 2, iscomposed of a rear part 3 and a fore part 4. These niet The rear portion3 is provided with a oor 10 from which sides 11 and back 12 extendupward. At the upper edges of the sides and back, padded seats 14 may beprovided. A cross seat 1.5 is provided at the front end of the box-likebody structure 16.

The floor continues forward of the body and is diminished in widthsomewhat at the forward end. This floor is attached to a frame 2i) whichincludes side, back and iront channel members 2l, 22, 23 and 24. Thesemembers are braced by diagonal bra members 26 and 261, 27 and 271, and2S and 281. These diagonal members extend fan-wise :from a central bodymember 30 and connect the frame to this member at various points,respectively.

The front body portion 4 is built substantially on the transverse axlehousing 33. This axle housing is centrally connected to the front4differential housing 3-4. rIIhe left axle housing part 3S is connectedto and supports an engine 36 and the right axle housing supports atransmission case 37.

From the front universal case -34 a drive tube housing 38 extendsrearward. Beneath the floor 10 of the `rear body part 3 there is a reardifferential housing 4G. Axle housings 41 and 42 extend outward fromIthis housing and `axles within the axle housings carry rear left wheel44 and right wheel 45. f

At the front the drive shaft within the Ifront axle housing 3-5 carriesleft fron-t Wheel 46 while the right hand front axle housing 351 carriesa front axle drive shaft on which is mounted right `front wheel 46r.-

'From the rear differential oase 40 a rear drive shaft housing 50extends forward to and is welded to a rear clevis portion 51 of thecentral coupling 6. The forward axle housing 38 extends rearward and isthreaded into the nut portion 53 of the forward clevis portion y52 ofthe central` connecting joint 6. It will lbe noted that the housings forthe two drive shaft parts 38- and 50 are stationary and do not moverelative to their respective body portions. Each terminates in a clevispart and the two clevis 'parts are joined by a bottom clevis bearing-bolt 55 yand a top clevis bearing bolt 56. This structure justdescribed permits the frontand rear body part to swing left and rightrelative to each other, as shown in the diagram, FIGURE 9. The threadedbearing portion 53 of the forward clevis part 52 permits the forwardpart 4 of the vehicle to twist relative -to the rear part as is shownparticularly in the diagram FIGURE 8.

Steering of the vehicle as a whole is accompanied by varying thehorizontal angle between the forward and aft body parts, as shown indiagram FIGURE 9. For this reason there is no need [for conventionalsteering knuckles between the ends of the forward transverse drive shaftand the wheels supported by the shafts within the housings atthe forwardend.

To control the angle between the two body parts which, in turn, controlsthe angle between fthe two drive shafts 38 and 50., I provide ai'steering wheel 60 which turns a steering shaft 61 through a universaljoint 62 and gearing contained within case 63. This controls aconnecting rod 64. Since the gearing 63 and other pants of the steeringmechanism are fastened to the yforward left hand edge of the floorportion 10 of the body part 3, motion of the A chain 73 transmits powerfrom the transmission shaft 71 to a drive shaft 74 on the forward bodypart A. This shaft drives the front wheels 46 and 461 throughdifferential gears 75 in gear case 76. The gears 7S transmit power tothe front drive shaft 77 which operates transversely in the front bodypart A. Each of the forward wheels 46 and 461 are keyed directly to therespective ends of the forward drive shaft.

The forward drive shaft 74 extends rearward to a forward universal joint78. This joint is `adjacent a drive shaft bearing in the forward shafthousing 80. The drive shaft 78 rotates a short shaft S1 which isdisposed so that its middle alignment is with the center line of thepivot bearing bolts 55 and 56. At the rear of the stub shaft there is asecond or rear universal joint 83. This joint drives the rear driveshaft 84, which operates within the housing 50. This rear drive shaftextends into the rear differential housing 85 and through conventional`gearing drives a solid rear shaft 86. The rear wheels 44 and 44r arekeyed directly -to the ends of drive shaft 86. It is to be understoodthat the diiferential gearing used is conventional and well known toautomotive practice and that the two right and left parts of the axleoperate to transmit power to the respective right and left rear drivewheels.

The engine 36 is provided with a throttle and throttle control 88positioned within easy reach of the seat portion a. The clutch 89 isoperated by the clutch lever 90.

From the foregoing it is to be understoodthat I have provided anautomotive body which consists of two parts, a fore part A and a rearpart B. These two parts are connected centrally by the pivot yoke 6previously described. Power is transmit-ted from an engine positioned inthe forward part A through a clutch and transmission gearing to the forepart of a drive shaft contained within housing 38. rThis is in turntransmitted to the forward wheels through a differential and the driveshaft after driving a double universal joint, including the forward part78 and rear part 83, to a rear central drive shaft contained in thehousing 50 and from this the power is transmitted through -adifferential to the two rear wheels. Steering is accomplished by varyingthe angle of the axis of the `forward drive shaft relative to the axisof the rear drive shaft. In other words, the body part A pivots relativeto the body part B on a horizontal plane. This permits old usualsteering. Rough terrain, when er1- countered, will tend to move the bodyparts into various angles wherein the forward and rear axles operate indifferent planes. This is accomplished by the joint shown in FIGURE ll.The forward body part is supported by the threaded screw part 38, whichis rotatively connected to the internally threaded part 53 and this isin turn attached to the yoke parts 52 which extend rearwardly to thepivot pins 55 and 56. This threaded connection acts as both a rotarybearing and as a longitudinal adjustment to vary the longitudinaldistance between parts A and B.

When the angle of :the front axle varies relative to the rear axle in ahorizontal plane the rotary joint 92 conment and in this way the vehicleas a whole may be adjusted as shown in FIGURES 8 and 10.

During all motions of varying angle between the two 'shafts drive iscontinued. That is the front wheels continue to drive as well as theback wheels. The forward and rear differentials allow for steeringadjustment and the direction of movement is controlled by the varyingangle of the forward and rear axles as controlled by the steering wheeland as -illustrated diagrammatically in FIG- URE 9. With thiscombination of adjustments the vehicle is `able to travel over veryrough terrain wherein the drive wheels are required to seek their Ownlevel each regardless of the level of the opposite body part.

To prevent the forward body part `from rotating under applied power whenthe wheels may be temporarily locked l employ rather large tires on theforward wheels and these are partially filled with water to act asweights and to assist in obtaining traction. At the same time theseweighted tires prevent rotation of the front axles with reference to theIrear axle when rotation of the wheels is blocked or partially blocked.

I claim:

An automotive vehicle for operating over rugged terrain comprising `aforward body part supported by wheels mounted on transverse alignedaxles centrally joined by differential gearing and a central fore andaft drive shaft connected by gears to said forward differential, adifferential gear housing and a housing for said axle parts and ahousing for said drive shaft, an engine mounted on said axle housinghaving a clutch and belt means driving a gear change mechanism containedin a box, said gear change box being mounted on said axle housing and achain mechanism connecting said gear change mechanism with said forwarddrive shaft, a rear body part including right and left axle partsconnected by dilerential gearing, and a drive shaft connected by gearsto said rear differential gearing, a tubular axle housing enclosing saidrear axle parts and a differential housing connecting said axle housingtubing centrally of said housing, `a tubular drive shaft housingconnected to said dilferential housing, a pivot joint joining the frontaxle housing to said rear axle housing, including two mutuallyinterfitting clevis parts pivotally joined yby vertical bearing bolts, atubular universal joint operatively joining the front `drive shaft tothe rear drive shaft, a platform on said rear drive shaft housing havinga seat and a steering wheel including a steering arm driven throughgearing by said steering wheel, said gearing being mounted on saidplatform, a steering link connecting said forward drive shaft housing tosaid steering arm `at a point eccentric to said vertical pivot bearingbolts, and means for controlling operation of said engine from said seatand for operating said clutch and gear shift mechanism from said seat.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No. 3,045,774 July24v 1962 Clarence S. Hadlock It is hereby certified that error appearsin the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the saidLetters Patent should read as corrected below.

In the drawing, Sheet 2, "FIG. 5, section line 12-12 is 1n error andshould be considered eradicated. column 4, line 43, for "tubular" readdouble Signed and sealed this 8th day of September 1964.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER Attesng Officer Commissioner ofPatents

